Alzheimer’s deaths increased by more than 50% from 1999 to 2014 in the US. These numbers are expected to rise given America’s aging population and increasing life expectancy. While the number of individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s has gone up, the number of these individuals being treated in a medical facility has actually declined. Over the same fifteen-year period, Alzheimer’s sufferers being treated in a medical facility fell from 14.7% in 1999 to 6.6% in 2014. Many of these individuals are instead being cared for at home with family supervision. Considering the burden placed on these families, it is likely they would benefit from services such as respite care and case management. This trend of taking Alzheimer’s sufferers into the home in lieu of a medical facility will likely continue as the debilitating disease is expected to affect 13.8 million adults over 65 by 2050.
See Julie Steenhuysen, U.S. Alzheimer’s Deaths Jump 54 percent; Many Increasingly Dying at Home, Reuters, May 25, 2017.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
